Origins. History. Future.
Our Story
Breaking Ground in 2017
Socceroos Canada was established in June 2017. Founder and sole propreitor Jija George explains, "I was looking for programs in my home city of Surrey that my kids can join. Being an active league soccer player myself at that time, I had a fair idea of available programs but I had many obstacles like scheduling, locations, costs etc. I decided to start my own Summer Camp that year after finishing the required training from BC Soccer. The first camp started with a list of sixteen local kids who consisted of my own two children, their cousins, their friends in the neighbourhood and few others who heard about it through those attending.
Turning a need into a mission
By the time I opened the camp, word had spread in the community and soon there were more than 50 kids ready to enroll and participate before the first ball was kicked! I realized then that inspite of Surrey being saturated with soccer clubs, there were a large percentage of kids who had no access to soccer because of the various obstacles that I faced too, as a parent. I made it my mission to make soccer accessible to these kids and others alike by creating a Program with locations that were easy to get to, affordable and high quality coaching.
Short-term and long-term growth
The Program began as a single season summer camp, that fall I added a regular weekday evenings program and kept adding season after season! Through the immense support of parents, players and my assistant coaches I can be proud of over 500 kids (and counting!) who have benefitted from my Program with multiple locations in Surrey, New Westminster and Abbotsford! In 2020 our most senior players started playing League Games every weekend and through affiliations with competitive leagues in the Lower Mainland, we now boast of multiple teams in various age groups playing in leagues and tournaments!
Future Goals
I wish to keep working towards achieving Chartered Club status with BC Soccer and eventually having representation in the BC Soccer Premier League and High Performance League! My vision of offering soccer to all levels of players is still growing, evolving and improving but my priority will always be community first - where it all started!"